Try cluck with com­edy

AB­SO­LUTE may­hem and an ex­plo­sion of culi­nary chaos is com­ing to Perth th­ese school hol­i­days with New Zealand’s The­atre Beat­ing pro­duc­tion, TheMag­icChicken.

Part of the Awe­some In­ter­na­tional Arts Fes­ti­val for Bright Young Things, the 55minute show for ages five years up is a slap­stick treat com­bin­ing phys­i­cal com­edy, live mu­sic and pup­petry.

Di­rec­tor Ge­off Pin­field said the per­for­mance in­cluded two chefs in a kitchen cook-off, with food, bod­ies, chick­ens and knives fly­ing across the stage.

“It’s in­spired by the Buster Keaton/Charlie Chap­lin era of amaz­ing phys­i­cal com­edy silent movies and also Ren and Stimpy,” he said.

“We wanted to make a live ac­tion car­toon and see what we could do as per­form­ers to cre­ate some­thing where car­toon logic was pri­mary, where grav­ity and time doesn’t work in the same way and where ra­tio­nal thought doesn’t work in the same way.”

Pin­field said the re­sult,

THE ES­SEN­TIALS which pre­miered in Auck­land in 2010, was a de­light for both chil­dren and adults.

“A lot of chil­dren’s the­atre is well tar­geted to a cer­tain age range and we’ve de­cided to go the other way,” he said.

“We wanted to make a show that we would want to go along and see, and we would want to take our kids along to see.

“It’s im­por­tant when you’re mak­ing chil­dren’s the­atre that it’s not some­thing that be­comes a bur­den or chore for adults, that it’s just as ex­cit­ing for them.”

Pin­field said the company pro­duced adult and chil­dren’s the­atre, and work­ing be­tween the two helped when cre­at­ing the other.

“If you treat chil­dren as be­ing a so­phis­ti­cated and in­tel­li­gent au­di­ence, then you’ll get a bet­ter show,” he said. “And con­versely, if you treat an adult au­di­ence with the kind of play­ful­ness, imag­i­na­tion and cre­ativ­ity of child­hood, then you’re go­ing to get a bet­ter show for adults too.”

Chil­dren’s pro­duc­tion The Magic Chicken is bring­ing culi­nary chaos to the Awe­some In­ter­na­tional Arts Fes­ti­val for Bright Young Things.